British Asian magazine strikes a recession-beating deal

London, Feb 19 (IANS) Britain’s largest free journal for the South Asian community has reached a distribution deal that will see it stocked on the shelves of the country’s biggest supermarkets, its managing director said Thursday. Anasudhin Azeez said copies of Asian Lite will be stocked at select Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores from Friday under a deal reached with Self Select Distribution.

It could see the circulation of Asian Lite, which is aimed at the highly-skilled South Asian market, rocket to 40,000 copies despite the current recession in Britain.

Focusing on London and its surrounding areas at first, the distribution deal is planned to roll out into the Midlands region in April, with Azeez aiming to top the 50,000 circulation mark by the title’s second anniversary in June .

“As the recession gets deeper, more major clients will turn to community focused publications like Asian Lite. The new distribution network will help us to provide better services to mainstream clients,” Azeez said.

The paper recently roped in mainstream clients British Airways, Lloyds TSB and Pontin’s Holidays, and its website has begun to attract clients of the stature of the BBC.

“Asian Lite is emulating the success of Metro to become the country’s largest newspaper targeting the British-Asian community - one of the most affluent sections in the British society,” Azeez said.

“There is a gap in the market for a quality Asian journal and we are providing a successful combination of news, views and entertainment to a family audience.”